This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Pretty Please

We don't need to be William and Kate but we don't need to be the Jersey Shore cast either...

There, I said it. I'm pushing it with the pretty, but just trying to raise the bar of social skills a notch in this stressed-out, rehab-driven world.

It almost sounds original today to hear a "Nice to meet you!" instead of "Hey." I'm not a manners freak but it's getting sloppy out there. I have actually gotten to the point of praising a store employee to their manager if they are pleasant and/or helpful. Is that what we've come to? We're now grateful for a smile or a "you're welcome?"

Today was classic...I made a routine business request and was told "I'll twist an arm to make it happen." I'm thinking "Wait, isn't this just your normal job?" I'm not asking for a role on Mad Men.

Find out what's happening in Newtownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Let me wind up with a recent example of rudeness that sent me into a tailspin (not in public, of course!) My date and I were told we would have a 10-15 minute wait at an upscale restaurant. OK, fine. Anyhow, after 50 minutes of nursing our drinks at the bar we were finally ushered to a crumb-laden table. Next, no waitress for seriously 10 more minutes. Then, no bread basket (no big deal except every other table had one.)

The finale...someone at a distant table threw a meatball across the dining room landing on my arm. I can't make this up. Let's just say I took the high road but I think I'll order in next time. And, I'll remember to say "thank you."

Find out what's happening in Newtownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?